According to the results of the 2023 Mental Health Resources Monitoring [Monitoring Ressourcen Psychische Gesundheit 2023], mental health matters to people. They are also aware of the importance of mental health care. However, according to the findings of the monitoring, only half of the people surveyed act accordingly. Information and help are available, but many people face barriers to taking advantage of them. The most significant obstacle, which constitutes a barrier for 32% of respondents, is the strain on others they wish to avoid. Lack of desire to talk about the problems is in second place at 24%. And costs come in third place. 22% are put off by the costs of seeking professional help. In addition, for all barriers, people who have been in a crisis for a long time find the obstacles to be significantly higher. Particularly when it comes to costs, the distinction between stress and illness plays a key role. Compulsory health insurance will cover the costs if a diagnosis of clinical significance has been specified by a doctor.
When it comes to finances, there isn’t a very preventative approach to one-on-one support.
says Noemi Swoboda, Head of OHM Operations & Development at Health Promotion Switzerland. ‘People know that they could or should deal with mental stress, but they are not yet ill. This means they would have to pay for the treatment or activity themselves.’ However, people also often wouldn’t know where to turn or what the first steps are. Instead of tackling a problem from the outset and finding a solution, people drift deeper. The more advanced a psychological diagnosis is, the more difficult it is for the person affected to take action themselves. ‘For instance, one of the characteristics of depression is that you have difficulty getting into an action,’ she says.
Not everything costs money
‘Not all measures cost money,’ says Noemi Swoboda. Many measures can be taken by each and every one of us. The figures show taking action would pay off. The bulletin issued by the Swiss Health Observatory at the end of 2024 shows that in 2022, 68 out of every 1,000 insured individuals received outpatient treatment in psychiatric and/or psychological psychotherapy practices. 6.9 in 1,000 inhabitants received inpatient treatment in a psychiatric clinic or psychiatric ward of a hospital. One fifth of patients received inpatient care on more than one occasion. The overall hospitalisation rate was 9.3 per 1,000 inhabitants. The costs for treatments covered by compulsory health insurance amounted to CHF 2.6 billion in 2022. In 2006, this figure was still under CHF 1.4 billion. Outpatient practices account for the largest share, at CHF 1.2 billion. CHF 487 million was spent on outpatient hospital care and CHF 849 million on inpatient care. This does not include hospital costs, which are funded by the cantons. They pay 55% of hospital costs. ‘It is important that those affected know at an early stage that they will be funded if they have a clinical diagnosis,’ says Swoboda. However, as she points out, ‘if the diagnosis is not clinical in nature, that does not mean that everything is fine.’ In that case, the person should consider what would be good for them. Overall, the costs of mental health conditions are higher than the component covered by health insurers. The 2025–2028 plan of action for the National Strategy for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases (NCD Strategy) describes direct costs of mental health conditions, including dementia, of CHF 13.5 billion. The potential for prevention is considerable.
Prevention in the workplace
The workplace is a suitable environment for preventive measures. ‘There are already many companies that have a degree of awareness,’ she says. The most recent monitoring of occupational health management (OHM) in Switzerland shows that around 75% of companies in Switzerland implement OHM and corresponding measures, a quarter of them systematically. Investing in employees’ health can pay off. According to the Job Stress Index, work-related stress costs the economy around CHF 6.5 billion per year. CHF 1.5 billion in work performance is lost due to employee absence. The costs of employees working, but not achieving their full potential, amount to CHF 5 billion. To counter this, systematic OHM with many measures is not always necessary. ‘Sometimes you just need to take the first steps to raise awareness of the issue,’ says Swoboda. ‘If employees think they’re working for a company where there’s no space to talk about mental health, hardly any employee is going to say “I’m not doing great”.’ Preventive work and raising awareness can be challenging, especially for smaller companies. For them, the first step is usually the most difficult. If you know where to start, you can take the next step, says Swoboda. She offers a tip for getting started: ‘Simply make mental health a topic in the workplace. That would be a good start.’
